Don
Martin diary entry for Thursday, August 1, 1918:
Went out with [Edwin] James [New York Times] and Cameron Mackenzie of
the London Chronicle. Went to headquarters of the 32nd division in a
chateau north of Jaulgonne. Then to the 42nd division, in the
wrecked village of Beauvardis. Returned fairly early. Wrote a cable of 1,400
words and about 1,000 for Paris. Went for walk in the evening with Maximillian
Foster and Mackenzie. Spent rest of the evening visiting with Jimmy Hopper
[Colliers], Mackenzie, Jim Kerney, Ray Carroll [Philadelphia Public Ledger],
Carroll McNutt of Colliers and several others of lesser importance.
American soldiers doing most wonderful
fighting of all. Are amazing Europe. Many of our boys are being killed and a
great many wounded but they keep going ahead. It is very evident that their
spirit, freshness and recklessness if it can be called that are demoralizing
the Germans. This spirit on the part of the Americans may result in large
casualty lists for us but it will win the war, not this year and perhaps not
next year but it will win in the end.
Don Martin's writing that the 'biggest battle of the war'was coming soon was published in the New York
Herald on August 2. Mention of General Degoutte's name was allowed by the censors for the New York Herald; it was not allowed in the report for the Paris Herald.
HUNS MASSING BELOW SOISSONS, BIGGEST BATTLE OF WAR NEARS
Germans Massing on Soissons Plateau and the Tardenois Heights Before
Key Positions Where Allies Will Attack,
Don Martin Says
DEFEAT WILL SEND FOE TO THE AISNE VALLEY
Enemy Is Being Steadily Outfought by Americans,
Who Are Rapidly
Thinning His Ranks
HIGHLY PRAISED BY FRENCH COMMANDER
General Degoutte Happy to Direct Army
of Which They Form Part
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent
of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special Cable to the
Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Thursday
The Germans are likely by the time
this is read to be occupying a strong position on the plateau southeast of
Soissons and also on the ridge of highlands east and southeast of
Fere-en-Tardenois, where the test of strength will come with the Allies. If the
French, British and Americans, all of whom will fight there, are able to sweep
the Huns from the plateau southeast of Soissons, the Germans will be forced to
abandon Fismes and go back to the Aisne.
The plateau commands Fismes, which the
Germans are determined to hold, it being the converging point of railways and
highways leading to the valley of the Aisne. The Germans are massing troops on
the plateau and also on the highlands south and east of Fere-en-Tardenois, and
both places will see bloody fighting soon.
Fismes is the keystone of the
present situation and the Allies are making a continued smash in that
direction, the British delivering hammer blows in the Soissons region and the
Americans pushing bravely and consistently ahead in a region running roughly to
the Tardenois.
There has been most bitter fighting
in the Bois Meuniere, where the Germans were strongly intrenched. The Americans
attacked four times and made slight progress. Each time they met machine gun
with machine gun, giving the Hun a deadly taste of the hail he is sending night
and day. The Germans resisted inch by inch, but finally the Allies occupied the
forest.
Americans Outclass Huns
The Germans are being steadily
outclassed by the Americans, who are rapidly thinning the German ranks. At
Seringes the Germans found the Americans to be strategists as well as plucky
fighters. The Germans threatened to attack the edge of the village. The
Americans made a sham defence, trapping the Germans into entering the village,
thinking they were driving a large force of Americans back. At the proper
moment the Americans stormed from the buildings and killed, captured or wounded
the entire force of Germans, taking 157 prisoners. The Germans attempted to
enter the village again later, but were repulsed with heavy loss.
In open fighting the Americans
clearly outmatch the Prussians. Prisoners captured on Wednesday say American
efficiency is putting the Germans in a state of alarm. They say one purpose of
the latest German offensive was to deal a sledge hammer blow to the Americans,
killing thousands, disgusting them and the folks at home also with the war and
paving the way for American indifference to a German victory before snow comes.
Intelligent prisoners frankly say the situation is serious for Germany now, but
insist that she will fight desperately, in the hope of some development which
may be to her advantage.
The situation on the whole line in
the Soissons-Rheims salient is changing slowly, the Allies advancing in most
places and the Germans resisting furiously. It is known that the Germans for
four days have been sending heavy material to Fismes. Engineers have gone there
and the indications are that the new line will be along the Vesle temporarily.
But if the Allies have sufficient strength to press their present advantage
they can force the Germans back to the Aisne. This would fill the month.
General Degoutte, in a special
interview with the American correspondents, said the Americans are fighting
with the spirit of gladiators. He said he felt honored by commanding an army
having Americans in it. He added that they fought at the most vital points and
made progress against the pick of German shock troops, which make inevitable
the victory of the Allies.
He spoke with the deepest sincerity
and feeling. He wanted to tell America through the Herald that all France
appreciates the Americans and the French are proud to be fighting side by side
with them.
The General was surrounded by huge
maps showing even the trees by the roadside. He pointed to places and explained
the whole movement. He said the Germans had intended to control the two sides
of the Marne and use them as a pathway to Paris.
When I asked him what he expected
the Germans to do now he smiled and said he always liked to catch a bear before
selling his skin. He said the Germans would try to hold the ridges and
plateaus, but probably would retire further.
It is interesting to see the
refugees returning to the recaptured villages. I saw miles of wagons to-day
loaded with furniture, dogs, children and chickens, pulled by three horses in
single file, plodding along toward their wrecked homes, but homes nevertheless.
Again the American troops are in
the bitterest kind of fighting and are pressing their advance lines onward
north of Sergy despite the attempts of the choicest shock divisions of Prussia
to check them. Our men cannot be checked.
Numerous instances of their valor
and determination to win in this giant struggle, in which the bravest of the
Hun troops are hurled at them, might be told. I know of more than a dozen
instances where wounded American soldiers, after having been compelled to leave
the field of battle for the surgical dressing stations, later tore the bandages
from their wounds and returned to the fight, only to receive fresh wounds.
Questioned later, they all have the
same answer. They simply could not stay away from a battlefield where their
comrades were fighting so gallantly and where many of them were being killed.
This is the spirit of the American
troops in France.
 |
| From Paris Herald, August 2, 1918 Don Martin reported on seeing the emplacement of Germany's superman after the area was retaken. It was published in the New York Herald on August 2. |
SUPERGUN’S BASE TAKEN NEAR FERE COST $1,000,000
American Artillerymen Inspect Emplacement for Monster Cannon
By DON MARTIN
Special Correspondent
of the Herald with the American Armies in France
[Special Cable to the
Herald]
WITH THE AMERICAN ARMIES IN FRANCE, Wednesday (Delayed)
The capture of the base for one of
the German superguns in the vicinity of Fere-en-Tardenois, the news of which
already has been told, has revealed the fact that the monster cannon was
erected by the enemy with a view to its permanency for as long a time as the
war shall last. He never expected such a counter thrust by General Foch as
would drive him from the Soissons-Rheims salient or even menace the position of
the gun which he erected to bombard Paris. Such a thing as the capture of the
gun or its position by what the Kaiser once referred to as the “contemptible
little American army” was regarded by the Hun General Staff as an
impossibility.
It has been estimated that these
gun emplacements cost the Germans about a million dollars each. This very fact
alone would prove that the enemy expected to stay in the salient for a long
time.
When I saw the emplacement in
Chatelet Wood that the irresistible American advance had uncovered and wrested
from the enemy there were unmistakable signs that the Huns had worked their
hardest to wreck it with high explosives, but none of the charges was of
sufficient strength to do the work. Also I observed two dents in the great
superstructure which plainly indicated that the gun had been hit by shells from
French cannon. Along the fringe of the wood the trees were withered and
scorched for a depth of two hundred feet, which showed that each time the
supergun was fired there burst from its muzzle a sheet of flame that carried
with it so intense a heat that everything it touched withered and died.
Men Eager to See Emplacement
Thousands
of allied artillerymen and men of all arms of the service have inspected the
emplacement in Chatelet Wood since it was captured. It was my good fortune to
be able to go there with one of our engineers and to inspect it thoroughly.
The gun was
mounted on a circular base eleven feet deep and thirty-four feet in diameter.
This base was welded together by 10,000 bolts. The weight of the base alone was
estimated at 1,000 tons. The entire superstructure revolved on ball bearings
consisting of 110 steel balls, each one of which was eight inches in diameter.
The entire
thing looks uncanny, and the wonder is that the Germans were able to remove the
gun, considering the haste with which it was necessary for them to work in
order to prevent the monster cannon from falling into our hands. They managed
to unscrew a thousand bolts, but they could not complete their work before we
were on them.
How Gun Was Served
Ammunition
was served to the gun by three railroad tracks which branched off from a main
switch connecting the wood with the main line. Indications were that those
parts of the gun which the enemy was able to move away were transported from
the wood by means of this railway.
They did
this under the fire of our artillery. Clothing worn by the Germans was
scattered around the scene. It was evident that the wearers had been killed.
Near the
site of the supergun was an amazing system of runways and dugouts. These dugouts
were thirty feet deep and were impervious to bombs and shells. Shelters of
steel construction also were near by.
The only identification
mark which the emplacement bore was “Fried. Krupp, Gruson Werk, Magdeburg.”
Don Martin reported on the serious fighting the Americans are engaged in a dispatch published in the Paris
Herald on August 2.
CIERGES IS CAPTURED BY AMERICANS
AFTER BITTER FIGHTING WITH PRUSSIANS
Lumbermen, at Home in
Woods, Charge Six Times
and Finally Clear Out Enemy
(Special Telegram to the Herald)
By Don Martin
With The American Armies, Thursday.
American troops on Wednesday night
and to-day continued to advance in the face of the bitterest and most stubborn
opposition from Prussians and Bavarians. This was in a region directly east of
a line extending from Cierges to Roncheres and in a woodland well to the east
of this point.
Part of the Americans who took part
in the hardest fighting in the woods are lumbermen at home and giants in
physical strength and endurance. They proved themselves to be invincible on the
battlefield.
Six times these men with comrades
rushed into the woods. The last time they killed Germans with bayonets and
slaughtered many with automatic rifles, forcing the Huns to the extreme
northern edge.
The description of this fighting
given to me by an American who was close enough to see it all is thrilling. He
said the Americans advanced through a wheat field—this was on Wednesday
afternoon—in the face of machine-gun fire directed from trees. The fire was
constant and severe. The Americans rushed into the woods nevertheless, but were
compelled to retire. They lay down in the wheat field for a short time, then
reorganized and started ahead again. Six times this was done.
There was a diversion during the
five hours this fighting went on. A detachment of German infantry rushed out of
the woods to the left of the Americans and started to fire from behind. Part of
the Americans immediately turned their attention to this bold group of Huns and
killed every one of them. Meantime the Americans had entered the machine-gun
ridden woods in force and they bayoneted Germans at their guns and chased many
ahead of them. The German losses were heavy. The wheat field was strewn with
dead Germans and there were many of them in the woods. Americans have learned
much from the last few days’ experience about assaulting machine-gun positions.
Advance of Several Kilometres
The division of Americans which has
been doing the fighting in the region I have mentioned has advanced several
kilometres since it went into the line. It has done this over the opposition of
crack German troops. During the last two days Germans nineteen and eighteen
years of age have been taken prisoners. They fight well, but give up quickly
because they say they are sick of the war. They seem to be truly aroused
against the Prussians and say they are glad to be taken prisoners.
In view of the totally false German
official statement that they have captured several thousand French and American
prisoners during the recent fighting, the record of a unit which has been
fighting southeast of Sergy is of particular interest. Not a single man in this
unit has been taken prisoner. One of the officers said to me, speaking of
this:-
“I doubt if a prisoner will be
taken; certainly not unless he is found unconscious or too badly wounded to resist.”
I will quote an officer who watched
the fighting when the Americans started six times for the woods and finally
cleared them.
“The boys acted precisely as if
they were in a football game. They advanced on the run. A few fell each time.
They got behind the trees and remained for a few minutes, returning five times
to the wheat field, where they lay down to rest. Then they would leap to their
feet, yell something which I couldn’t understand and plunge into the think of
the machine-gun fire again. They did it with cleverness and caution, however.
They were about twenty feet apart.
Germans Annihilated
“In the midst of this skirmishing a
group of Boches stole out of the woods well to the left of the Americans and
started to attack from the rear. I never saw such a scene as followed then.
There were about a company of Germans. As many Americans turned and gave battle
to them. It was a case here of rifle fire and bayonet work. The Boche got his
stomachful—and full quickly. I could hear the profanity of the Americans. It
was some profanity, but there was an excuse for it. There wasn’t a Boche left
out of that bunch. When the Americans went into the woods for the sixth time
they didn’t return. They are there yet. And the Germans aren’t. I always knew
our boys would fight when they got a chance, but they are surpassing all my
expectations—almost all my hopes.”
The French advanced with equal
gallantry at the same time as the Americans did, thus giving the Boche another
stinging blow at a point where he massed some of his finest shock troops. An
officer said he saw fifty soldiers in an American dressing station.
“I heard a squeal from only one.”
he said, “and that one was a German. The doctors were injecting anti-tetanus
serum.”
Scores of stories have been told
the last week of Americans going from first-aid stations directly back to the
line. I have made inquiry and learn that these stories are true. Several men
have come to their first aid stations wearing tags showing they had been at the
same stations but an hour before. I was told to-day also that wounded Americans
had torn their bandages off and gone back to the side of their comrades,
several fighting till loss of blood compelled them to give up. Such stories of
Spartan heroism come out of nearly every battle and usually are the product of
a feverish imagination; but there is no doubt whatever that some of the stories
of the last few days are true. They certainly show a “do or die” spirit which
should cause the Germans some anxiety.
The Torn Gas Mask
A youngster came into a company
headquarters practically on the battlefield and asked for a new gas mask.
“There’s a hole in this one,” he
said.
A new one was furnished to him. An
inspection showed that a bullet had gone entirely through it, missing the
soldier apparently by a fraction of an inch.
Cierges was reached by Americans
after a stiff fight to the southwest of the village. The Germans had erected
barricades of sand bags partly around the village. When the Americans
approached the place, prepared for a hand-to-hand combat, they found it
unoccupied, but filled with gas.
Germans are known to be massing
troops in great numbers in the Forét de Nesles. They are also digging trenches
in and around the woods and stringing barbed wire. It is evident they intend to
make a vigorous resistance here. They are, in fact, contesting all the ground
yielded, and presumably intend to make the advance of the Allied troops as
costly as possible. However, the German losses unquestionably exceed those of
the Allies, and the German morale, it is known, is steadily weakening.
A German prisoner seemed startled
to-day when an American gave him a piece of white bread. He looked at both
sides of it, apparently thinking there was something wrong with it. He then
told what the rations of the German soldier in his regiment had been. A three-day
supply, he declared, consisted of a chunk of black bread, a small can of pork
and a small package of biscuits. He and other prisoners, however, said the crop
outlook in Germany is good.
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